Aamir Khan thinks that OTTs have changed peoples’ preferences because of the platform’s unexpected growth after the pandemic. The actor added that a film’s failure to find an audience might also be due to the creator, actor, or director choosing a not-so-relevant topic for the audience.
Failures of Bollywood at the box office
Aamir Khan is gearing up for his upcoming movie Laal Singh Chaddha. The much-awaited movie is finally set for release on 11th August after a long delay due to various hurdles in the past few years. Aamir, who asked the audience to not boycott Laal Singh Chaddha and requested to watch his film, spoke on the failures of Bollywood at the box office.
Looking at the recent form of Bollywood movies, despite having A-lister actors and superstars, films failed to win audience hearts and earn well at the box office. With this, Hindi movies were compared to that of the South which attracted global attention. During the promotions of Laal Singh Chaddha, Aamir Khan talked about the low success rate of Bollywood.
“I don’t see a shift in the phase. Historically, films that are bad and fail to impress the audience don’t work at the box office. That’s what has happened. Films like Pushpa, The Kashmir Files, Gangubai Kathiawadi, and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 were liked by the audience, and hence they worked at the box office. For me, that’s what I see as a permanent trend. If a film is good, it will work,” Aamir said.
Speaking about the Hindi vs South film debate, the actor said, “I think each filmmaker is trying to do his best. At the end of the day, as an audience, I am not concerned about which part of India the film is coming from. Why should I be concerned? If I am getting entertained and being emotionally satisfied by watching a Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Hindi, or Marathi film, then what’s wrong with it? Agar South ki filmein chal rahi hai aur logon ko pasand aa rahi hai, toh uss mein takleef kya hai? Yeh toh aachi baat hai (If South films are doing well and people are liking them, so what’s the big deal? This is good news).
OTT has changed the audience
Khan further asserts that OTTs have changed peoples’ preferences because of Ott’s unexpected growth after the pandemic. He further said that because there is so much available content, today’s audiences are less forgiving and won’t give you a chance if your screenplay is poor.
“OTT platforms act as a spoiled sport. When movies are released online in a few weeks why anyone would want to visit theaters? Yeh toh wohi baat ho gayi ki aap kahi mat jao… main aa raha hu aapke pass (It’s just like, You don’t go to theaters, let me come to you after few weeks)(laughs)! Hence, how can you expect people to come to cinemas? It is illogical. Hence, I have always tried to keep a six-month gap for my film as I understood this long back. I don’t know what the industry follows,” the actor explains.
Laal Singh Chaddha, his upcoming film, is a remake of the Hollywood movie Forrest Gump. The film features Kareena Kapoor Khan and Aamir Khan as the main lead.
